Eight months after a gay man sued Palo Alto and its police department for violating his civil rights, a settlement has been reached that requires all officers to undergo LGBTQ training.

In the settlement approved by the city council in a closed-door session earlier this week, the city has agreed to pay Palo Alto resident Gustavo Alvarez $572,500 and send an officer to an LGBTQ awareness law enforcement course at the Napa Valley College Criminal Justice Training Center, according to San Jose attorney Cody Salfen.

Upon completing the course, the officer will then run a two-hour LGBTQ awareness training program for all sworn members of the department.

According to the Training Center website, the course will teach officers about the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity, key moments in the LGBTQ civil rights movement and how hate crimes and domestic violence adversely impact the LGBTQ community.

“This case isn’t going to change the culture within the department overnight,” Salfen said. “But this settlement is definitely a starting point. It sends a message to every one of those officers that there is a problem and the time to change it is now.”

In a statement released Wednesday, the city and police department chose to settle Alvarez’s suit in order to “minimize the burden and expense of federal litigation.”

“While the City and Police Department sharply dispute the vast majority of Mr. Alvarez’ claims and have deep concerns about Mr. Alvarez’ continuing criminal behavior, the City believes that this resolution is in the best interests of all involved,” the statement said.

Alvarez has a criminal record that includes convictions for grand theft, driving under the influence and burglary.

His suit, which was filed against the city, its police department and six of its employees in April, claimed that in February 2018 officers kicked down his front door, dragged him out of his house, slammed his head against a car windshield and arrested him for driving with a suspended license without probable cause because he was gay, according to the 77-page complaint.

In addition to excessive force, the lawsuit alleged that the officers — who knew Alvarez was gay from previous run-ins — “mocked, made fun of and humiliated” him because of his sexual orientation and were “motivated by their hatred and prejudice of homosexual males.”

Alvarez spent two weeks in Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence, driving with a suspended or revoked license and resisting arrest. But due to lack of sufficient evidence, all of those charges were later dismissed by the Santa Clara County Superior Court.

Palo Alto rejected a public record request in early May from this news organization to obtain body cam and dashcam footage of the incident, citing a provision in California law that protects an individual’s right to privacy. But in July, Alvarez’s attorneys released footage from a surveillance video outside Alvarez’ home and audio recorded by the officers.

The surveillance footage and audio recordings not only showed the officers breaking down his down and slamming him against a police car but using it as a teaching lesson as well.

“See how well they behave when we put our foot down?” Sgt. Wayne Benitez said to another officer. “And that’s what we don’t do enough of.”

During a conversation with a tow-truck driver called to take Alvarez’s car, the audio recording picks up Benitez recounting the events that had just occurred, telling the driver that Alvarez is gay and raising his voice to mimic Alvarez’s voice.

While most of the officers that were involved with Alvarez’s arrest are still employed by the department, at least one has left. Former Sgt. Benitez was placed on administrative leave earlier this year after he was captured on video striking Alvarez and retired from the department on Sept. 30.

Benitez is collecting a monthly pension of $9,866 — earning him an annual retirement package of about $118,600, according to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

“Obviously there is a culture in the department that tolerates and encouraged civil rights violations,” Salfen said. “And that is extremely disturbing because every day that one of those officers continue to be employed by the department is another day that the agency has not changed for the better.”

As part of the settlement, Benitez is required to send a written apology to Alvarez, which will then be made public.

The police department is continuing its own internal investigation of the incident, so the city declined to comment any further on the case.

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Alvarez’s suit marked at least the fourth time in recent years that the Palo Alto Police Department was accused of using excessive force.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office charged two Palo Alto police officers in 2013 with felony assault and battery for allegedly beating a 59-year-old black motorist. In 2011, the city paid $35,000 to settle a suit filed by a transient gardener who alleged he was unlawfully arrested and stunned with a Taser by police officers three years prior. And in 2016, the city paid a Los Altos Hills man $250,000 after he sued the city’s police department and Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office in federal court for allegedly unjustly arresting him during a traffic stop and depriving him of medical care after police officers broke his arm.